SHOW NOTES:
What is a MacGuffin? Since Alfred Hitchcock coined the term, his definition—such as it is—might be best:
“The main thing I’ve learned over the years is that the MacGuffin is nothing. I’m convinced of this, but I find it difficult to prove it to others.”
The Maltese Falcon--Arguably the Most famous MacGuffin
FAMOUS MACGUFFINS:
OBJECTS:
The Military Secrets in THE 39 STEPS
The Maltese Falcon in THE MALTESE FALCON
The Microfilm in NORTH BY NORTHWEST
The briefcase in PULP FICTION
The Letters of Transit in CASABLANCA
The Ring in the LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy
The Death Star Plans in STAR WARS
The Holy Grail in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL and in the DIVINCI CODE
The Arc of the Covenant in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
The Genesis Device in STAR TREK2: THE WRATH OF KHAN
PEOPLE/CREATURES:
Colonel Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW
Private Ryan in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
The shark in JAWS
Doug the groom in THE HANGOVER
LeeLoo in the FIFTH ELEMENT
John Conner in THE TERMINATOR series
PLACES:
The Big “W” in IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD
MYSTERY:
Rosebud in CITIZEN KANE
Suspected murder in REAR WINDOW
LINKS:
Strand Magazine: The Care and Feeding of a MacGuffin:
Wikipedia: MacGuffin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin
Alfred Hitchcock Explains the Plot Device He Called the “MacGuffin”: http://www.openculture.com/2013/07/alfred-hitchcock-explains-the-plot-device-he-called-the-macguffin.html
What Is A McGuffin? https://nofilmschool.com/2016/09/hitchcocks-macguffin-explained-what-it-how-do-you-use-one-your-film